Can You Sign a Will Electronically in 2026? Not Yet — Here Is Where the Law Stands

Almost everything else can be signed on a phone. Wills cannot. It is one of the most common misconceptions we see, and it matters more than most because the consequence of getting it wrong is a will that simply does not work. Here is where the law actually stands in August 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

The short answer

No. A will made today in England and Wales must still be a physical document, signed and witnessed under formalities that date from the Wills Act 1837. There is no electronic route, no approved platform, and no commencement date to wait for. A will typed and “signed” with an e-signature tool is not a valid will.

What the law requires right now

• The will must be in writing
• It must be signed by the testator (or by someone else in their presence and at their direction)
• The signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses, present at the same time
• Each witness must then sign the will in the presence of the testator
• A witness — or a witness’s spouse or civil partner — must not be a beneficiary, or the gift to them fails

That last point causes more quiet disasters than any other. The will remains valid; the gift to the witnessing beneficiary is what fails. Ask a neighbour or a colleague, not the person inheriting.

What the Law Commission recommended

On 16 May 2025 the Law Commission published its final report, Modernising Wills Law, in two volumes — recommendations in the first, and a draft Bill for a new Wills Act in the second. It is a thorough piece of work and it proposes real change:

• Electronic wills should be valid, subject to an additional formality designed to protect the testator and secure the document. The draft Bill contemplates creation and storage on a “reliable system” meeting technical standards, with the Secretary of State given power to define which systems qualify.
• A dispensing power for the courts, allowing a document or a recording to be treated as a formally valid will where the person’s intentions are sufficiently clear, even though the formalities were not met.
• Abolition of automatic revocation of a will by marriage or civil partnership, a rule that has been criticised for incentivising “predatory marriage” as a form of financial abuse.
• A single test of testamentary capacity, applying the modern Mental Capacity Act 2005 test rather than the current dual approach.
• Reducing the minimum age for making a will from 18 to 16.
• Stronger protection against undue influence, letting a court infer undue influence where there is evidence giving reasonable grounds to suspect it.

Why none of it is law yet

A Law Commission report is a recommendation, not legislation. The Government must respond and then find parliamentary time. More than a year after publication there is no full Government response, no Bill before Parliament, and no Wills Bill in the King’s Speech opening the 2026/27 session. The Law Society has publicly criticised the delay.

Even when a Bill is introduced, reform of this kind takes time: passage through both Houses, then commencement regulations, then — for electronic wills specifically — the technical standards defining what counts as a reliable system. The realistic horizon is years, not months. Anyone waiting for electronic wills before putting their affairs in order is waiting for something with no date attached.

Where electronic signatures do and do not work

It is worth being precise, because the exceptions are narrow and specific. For most ordinary contracts — a service agreement, an employment contract, an NDA — an electronic signature is as legally effective as a wet-ink one. The documents that need special care are the ones with their own statutory formalities:

• Wills — paper only, two witnesses present together
• Lasting powers of attorney — prescribed form, prescribed signing order, and registration with the Office of the Public Guardian before use
• Deeds — require a witness to the signature
• Certain land transactions — subject to their own registration requirements

Practical steps if you are making a will now

1. Print it. Use a last will and testament template, or mirror wills if you and your partner want matching wills.
2. Arrange two independent witnesses who are not beneficiaries and are not married to a beneficiary.
3. Sign with both present at the same time, then have each of them sign while you watch. Same room, same occasion.
4. Store the original safely and tell your executors where it is. A photograph or a scan is not the will — probate needs the original.
5. Consider a power of attorney alongside it. A will governs what happens after death; an LPA for property and financial affairs or an LPA for health and welfare covers the situation where you are alive but unable to make decisions. A general power of attorney serves a narrower, temporary purpose.
6. Review after major life events. Marriage still revokes a will automatically under the current law — the recommendation to abolish that rule has not been enacted.

Summary

Electronic wills have been recommended, drafted into a Bill by the Law Commission, and then left waiting. Until Parliament acts, the Wills Act 1837 governs: paper, a signature, and two witnesses in the room. That is not a reason to delay — it is a reason to do it properly on paper now, and revisit it if the law changes.